by Kent Covington Posted 12/31/18, 09:48 am

The stage is set for the College Football Playoff championship, with Alabama and Clemson facing off once again. The Crimson Tide knocked out the Oklahoma Sooners Saturday night in the Orange Bowl 45-34, while the Clemson Tigers earlier in the day crushed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl. The Tide will take on the Tigers next Monday in Santa Clara, Calif. It will be the fourth consecutive year in which those two teams have met in the playoffs, the third time in the title game.

by Kent Covington Posted 12/28/18, 09:41 am

Richard Overton, the nation’s oldest World War II veteran, died Thursday in Texas. He was also believed to be the oldest living man in the United States at 112 years old. The U.S. Army veteran was recently hospitalized with pneumonia and died at a rehab facility in Austin.

Overton was born in 1906. He was in his 30s when he volunteered for the Army and was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack in 1941. He served in the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion.

by Kent Covington Posted 12/20/18, 11:01 am

The Illinois attorney general’s office found that 500 more Catholic clergymen have been accused of sexually abusing children than the six archdioceses in the state have publicly identified, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Wednesday. The archdioceses listed 185 clergy members as having been “credibly” accused of child sexual abuse, she said, but the actual total is around 700.

Kent Covington | 12/19/18, 11:23 am

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved a sweeping criminal justice reform bill Tuesday night that will adjust sentencing rules and expand job training programs and other efforts to help former inmates stay out of prison. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said while the bill gives judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, language was added to ensure the law does not go easy on those who pose a threat to the public. “It lowers mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenders,” Cruz said.

Kent Covington | 12/19/18, 10:17 am

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Tuesday authorizing the Pentagon’s new Space Command, which will better organize U.S. operations in space. Vice President Mike Pence made the announcement at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. He said a four-star general will lead the new command, establishing unified control over all military space efforts. “It will develop the space doctrine, tactics, techniques and procedures that will enable our war fighters to defend our nation in this new era,” Pence said. “A new era of American leadership in space has begun.”

Kent Covington | 12/17/18, 11:14 am

Kent Covington | 12/14/18, 10:59 am

The U.S. Senate on Thursday defied the White House by rebuking Saudi Arabia over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Seven Republican senators, including co-sponsor Mike Lee of Utah, joined with Democrats to approve a nonbinding resolution calling for the United States to end its assistance to Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen.

Kent Covington | 12/14/18, 10:56 am

A Russian woman accused of being a secret agent admitted Thursday she conspired to gather intelligence on conservative political groups. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Maria Butina, 30, pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent.

Kent Covington | 12/12/18, 10:13 am

The Senate voted 87-13 Tuesday in favor of a sweeping agriculture bill that will fund key farm safety-net programs for the next five years. The House is expected to pass the measure soon and send it to President Donald Trump for his signature. The legislation sets agricultural and food policy and provides $400 billion dollars in farm subsidies, conservation programs, and food aid for the poor. It also legalizes the cultivation of industrial hemp, an initiative championed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Kent Covington | 12/07/18, 09:32 am

Congress approved a two-week funding bill on Thursday to avert a partial government shutdown, and President Donald Trump is expected sign the measure on Friday. The bill keeps the federal government funded through Dec. 21. Funding would have expired Friday for a portion of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security. The stopgap funding bill sets up a possible showdown right before Christmas over funding for a border wall.